Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a CIPP liner air inversion system and more specifically it relates to a CIPP liner feeder system for efficiently feeding CIPP liner into an air inversion unit.
Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
CIPP liners have been used for many years for the rehabilitation of different types and sizes of conduit and piping systems such as utility, sewer, water, electric, telecom, industrial, petroleum, fire suppression, heating, cooling and the like. The majority of materials used to manufacture these liners is felt and fleece type fabrics which have a thin flexible PVC or Polyurethane type jacket coating on one side. The liners are usually impregnated with a thermosetting type resin then installed by inverting the liner inside of the host conduit or pipe with air or water.
There are many types of CIPP lining inversion systems including canister or drum styles and non-canister styles or “shooters”. The air inverter typically has a passive, non-motorized, guide roller positioned above the inlet opening of the air inverter to guide the CIPP liner vertically into the inlet opening. Another method of inserting the liners is by pulling the liners through the host pipe. The CIPP liner is often times transported to the installation site with a refrigerated truck (or trailer) to keep the temperature of the CIPP liner reduced and the CIPP liner is directly dispensed to the CIPP liner air inverter unit. The refrigerated truck includes a conveyor at the upper rear portion thereof that extends outwardly from the rear end of the truck to dispense the CIPP liner outwardly from the truck.
There are typically no problems of feeding the CIPP liner when the truck is able to be positioned adjacent or near the air inverter unit such as when installing the CIPP liner in a culvert under a roadway. However, when the truck containing the CIPP liner is unable to be near the air inverter unit, workers must manually pull upon and manipulate the CIPP liner from the truck because of the distance and to prevent the CIPP liner from becoming stuck in the air inverter unit. This manual process is labor intensive and time consuming since the CIPP liner often times becomes frictionally stuck in the air inverter unit thereby requiring the installers to manually attempt to get the CIPP liner to proceed through the conduit which significantly disrupts the installation of the CIPP liner. Another problem encountered with air inverter units is that the air pressure within the CIPP liner beneath the air inverter unit can result in the air inverter unit being lifted upwardly and misaligned further slowing the CIPP liner installation.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved CIPP liner feeder system for efficiently feeding CIPP liner into an air inversion unit.